Deepening our roots in our watershed

We are working to restore and revitalize life in the South Veluwe Watershed. That’s why we are building a movement of people, initiatives, and organizations who are creating new connections with our region. We are cultivating a culture of care—care for one another and for our watershed. This is what we call putting down deeper roots.

Since 2023, we have been gathering and connecting older and younger people, farmers, entrepreneurs, artists, activists, people with a migration background, researchers, and many others from across the entire watershed. At iconic places within the watershed, we learned about its qualities and its rich history. There, our shared vision emerged, along with our current action plan to strengthen the resilience of the area.

We see the rebuilding of strong, affective relationships as the best way to help the movement grow. That’s why we focus strongly on storytelling, ceremonies, cultural expression, and sharing meals. The Art of Hosting and the international Nyéléni principles have been important sources of inspiration for our approach. Everyone who feels connected to our story is invited to take part, and in this way the ‘covenant of the willing’ continues to grow stronger.

Our core team is made up of people with diverse backgrounds and from different parts of the watershed. They are responsible for carrying out our five lines of action. They do this together with the broader movement of residents, organizations, entrepreneurs, and (local) governments within the watershed.

We believe that our movement has the potential to offer responses to the rising fascism, the alienation, and the destruction we are experiencing in our territory, in our country, and across the world.